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No, it's not. And darned if I can find what I did with mine! Mine has more information on it, but I can't remember what...! I guess I wasn't to concerned.
If I come acrossed it I will email you a copy of it.

I'm from NJ now living in Maine. Have lived with ticks alot in NJ. You do not always get a bull's eye mark. Wear white shirts and light clothing, it's easier to spot the buggers, tuck pant legs into socks. After coming inside check your body and especially your hair. We have three in our family that have been treated for lymes and we are fine now. Treatment takes awhile. You should be more fearful of the big animals up here then ticks. I have not spotted a tick since moving to Maine 2 years ago. Reports of them in Portland area.

If you want to see a real live Maine tick, just get near me after a cache trek. I seem to attract them like a tick magnet. Only one bite so far this summer and it appeared to be a regular dog tick. I use 30% Deet and still get ticks. Sigh....

Ticks!

Originally Posted by agingelm

I have not spotted a tick since moving to Maine 2 years ago.

You should try caching in the Lewiston area! On a trip last fall, the dogs had several on them and us three adults had five or six amongst us and the next day when I was back in my car I found one on my windshield. I haven't back to that area since! Twin 2 of Hiker Twins

tick removal

If you're out in the woods often as we are--this hint might come in handy.

try this out ...

A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share --

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great , because it works in those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc. Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on it's own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and in KY, that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.

I've been caching lately in a white turtleneck, light colored pants and a light colored hat, all sprayed with DEET. I roast to death but I can spot the buggers before I get back into the car. I change shirts before I get back in the car, then put the turtleneck back on to hike into the woods. When I start to feel like it's too much trouble, I just look in the mirror at my neck where I still have divots from my little trip to the ER to get 4 removed. They didn't use the swab, they used a clamp and just pulled.

I've been caching lately in a white turtleneck, light colored pants and a light colored hat, all sprayed with DEET.

I've mentioned wearing LIGHT colored clothing when caching to a couple of people. Those deer ticks are so small, that you can easily miss one if you're wearing dark. But they show up oretty well with "faded" jeans or "khaki" colored slacks.

A few points...

First - As Hiker Twins mentioned, If you can see the tick on you while still out in the field, you don't have a deer tick. Deer ticks, after feeding, only swell up to the size of pre-fed dog or wood tick nymphs. Even on light clothing, you'd only notice them if (for some strange reason) you decided to study the weave of the fabric with a magnifying glass and looked in the right place. Speck-of-dust sized. Tiny. All but too small to see.

Second - ALL of the "tricky" ways of getting ticks to release (including yours, LoonyLady - Sorry) carry a high risk of them regurgitating their meal first - Which increases your odds of getting Lyme disease drastically. Ripping them out violently; cigarette near their butts; suffocation with vaseline or the like; bad bad bad. You can carefully remove them with tweezers, but I suggest a tick-spoon (they cost under $5 at LLB). Of course, personally the little creeps totally freak me out and I usually just cut out an eraser-sized plug of (my) flesh around their heads with a razor blade. Ugh! Makes me shudder just thinking about them.

Third - It takes around 24 hours to "catch" Lyme from infected deer ticks. So at the end of the day, go home, shower, and have someone (ie, spouse) do a thorough tick check. If you find them after only a few hours, you have almost no risk of getting Lyme. Even at the end of a long day of hiking, you don't need to worry too much. If you don't notice it until the next morning's shower... Well... Then you should start worrying.

Fourth - Not everyone gets the bullseye rash, and even those who do usually don't have something you'd call a glaringly obvious bullseye... More like just a bruise with a differently colored center.

Fifth - Yes, deer ticks go past Augusta (I've gotten one in the Bangor area). I think that factoid refers to the lack of autochthonous cases of lyme from any further North than that.

Sixth - Fortunately, Lyme responds well to antibiotics if caught within a few months. Unfortunately, if you don't catch it within a few days, you probably won't notice anything until your doctor starts running every test on the books three years down the road to explain why your joints and assorted organs have all started failing (Really, NOT a pretty disease. Use DEET).

Ticked off

All I've found in the Augusta area have been dog ticks......and I've found maybe 12 this year, including the 3 I've taken off my dog. Only found one on skin, fortunately not latched on yet.....

But the Lyme carriers are often too small to see.

Anyways, that Tick Spoon mentioned in the above entry WORKS. It's the best thing sinced sliced bread, seriously! The one I bought was called "Ticked off." It's in a green-colored package, and the spoon is white and about 1/2 teaspoon sized. Highly recommended.